All these goods in the badly flooded parts of the city are or will soon be ruined. It's not like anyone is ever going to go back there and claim the stuff.
This is one reason why the go/stay call is so hard for many home owners, leave and your stuff gets looted, stay and you risk your life. I think New Orleans is a special case in terms of looting, most of the city is under water and will be for months, all the stuff will ruin in that environment, normally I would be very quick to come down hard on "looters" as the real owners will be back to claim thier stuff, just not sure that is the case here.
"It's not like anyone is ever going to go back there and claim the stuff."
Huh? This is not the sea w/a boat subject purely to the Gulf Stream that you can't find on a map. There are tons of shops and such that will still be there themselves, that people can return to.
Yes, they won't miss some things in the stores, but they still have the stores and SHOULD at least have the equipment in them - which BTW seems to be disappearing also at least to carry out the foodstuffs. Not to mention the condition of the places. That is alot of stuff to recover - it's not just pure insurance money, it's EFFORT. I won't be surprised the main reason the "never go back" (i.e., open again) is more from the theft and destruction from the HUMANS than from the waters.
"under water and will be for months"
This I highly doubt. I just do. Call me crazy, but I think many are making more out of the duration than there really is.
Now being up in the midwest during the horrible MS River floods - yes, they were flooded for ages, exactly cuz the water had nowhere to go but down the thin river.
Don't ever try that with a warship from any country...